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MAY 40 
BSOOBE’S RURAL $3 E W - Y 0 R 
on 
CANNING TOMATOES. 
PuT tomatoes up in stone jars holding two 
and three gallons each. I llnd them much 
better than jugs for canning fruit, as they 
can be more conveniently tilled and emptied. 
Mv method ol’ canning fruit is.as follows : 
First, scald the jars very thoroughly in boil¬ 
ing water, (1 scald mine in a largo boiler.) 
Then pour into them your pored gild sliced 
tomatoes. Set them into a largo boiler with 
an iron grate or strips of iron on the bottom, 
so that the water may pass under the jars 
and prevent their breaking; then fill the 
boiler with cold water till within two inches 
of the top of the jars, and sot over the fire ; 
cover the jars while in the boiler with a heavy 
plate ; keep the water boiling until the fruit 
is heated to a boiling point,; then lift out the 
jars, one at. a time, and seal them as follows ; 
Wipe carefully the top of the jar with a 
damp, and then a dry cloth, as the wax will 
not adhere well when there is dampness; 
tie tightly a dry white cloth over the top of 
the jar and put on melted sealing wax (of 
resin and tallow) around the outer edge ; but 
be careful that it, does not reach the inside of 
the rim, as it would get into the fruit and 
injure it ; over this press firmly around the 
outer edge a circular piece of paper, which 
will cover the mouth of the jar and extend 
over one-half the width of the rim ; tie over 
this another dry cloth and entirely cover the 
top of the jar with the molted wax until you 
have a coating of wax one-sixteenth of an 
inch thick ; lot them cool slowly. Of course, 
in conning fruit wliieh is not well supplied 
with juice, (or corn, peas, &c.,) before seal¬ 
ing, boiling water should bo added until the 
jar is full ; otherwise, air will fill the unoc¬ 
cupied space and spoil the contents. 
Another method is to heat the fruit to a 
boiling point in a kettle, and pour while hot 
into the jars. The jars should be hot when 
the fruit is poured in ; and if of glass, should 
be scolded by dipping them hi hot water, so 
that the water will touch the inside and out¬ 
side of the jars at the same time, and thus 
prevent breaking. A folded cloth of several 
thicknesses if placed under tho jar before the 
fruit is put in, will prevent its cooling too 
suddenly, thus causing liability to break. T 
find it more convenient to sweeten the fruit 
before canning it. This is not thought eco¬ 
nomical by some, as the sugar would be lost 
if the fruit did not keep. My fruit kseps 
perfectly the cut ire year, consequently, I 
have, no loss in this way. 
When the jars have been sealed a day or 
two and are quite cold, I turn them upside 
down and let them remain a few hours, that 
I may determine their liability to keep, if 
not scaled perfectly, they will leak a little 
when thus inverted, and need to be reheated 
and canned. The jars should be handled 
carefully, otherwise the wax is apt to crack. 
They should be kept in a cool, dry place, but 
above the freezing point. Of late years I 
have not used tin for canning fruit ; do not 
like it. The acids of some kinds of fruit, es¬ 
pecially, affect the tin m such a way as to 
impart an unpleasant flavor. I prefer self- 
sealing glass jars above all others, and stone¬ 
ware above tin. Have u*ed several kinds of 
self-sealing cans, but prefer tlioso which have 
a glass cover with rubber between and held 
securely by an iron clamp. Have not had 
very good success with tho glass jars without 
rubber, as the wax sometimes got among 
the fruit. But after procuring rubber to 
place under the tin cover, I found no such 
difficulty, and they keep perfectly. 
Mrs. Julia M. Wheeoogk. 
-- 
TRIMMING PICTURE FRAMES WITH 
PUTTY. 
Mrs. R. T. wants to know the modus ope¬ 
rand i of trimming picture frames with put¬ 
ty. Here, is mine ;—1 have my frames ready, 
which is done by Charley or myself, with 
a jack-knife ; and though the joints may 
not fit as nicely as if made by a skilled car¬ 
penter, the putty and ornaments will cover 
them. The putty, when bought, is hard, and 
must be worked so as to be pliable, which is 
done either by pounding or kneading with 
the. hands, adding linseed oil enough to make 
it soft and pasty. When it is worked till 
there are no lumps in it, and oil added to 
wuke it soft, there will be no difficulty in 
making it adhere to the wood. Put on a 
layer thick enough, so that the ornaments 
may be sunk a little into—less than a quarter 
of an inch I find quite sufficient. After it is 
quite covered with the trimmings, the frame 
must be kept lying down till the putty be¬ 
comes dry and hard, or they will drop off. 
i 
As I make a good many shell frames, I will 
tell how I prepare the shells. I use the clam 
and suail shells that are found in the streams ' 
hereabouts, of which there are several varie- ^ 
ties. I make a strong lye with ashes, and j 
boil them in this till the brown coating, on | 
the outside, and the limy crust next to it, 
will come off easily. The tender oues, which < 
I have separated from the others, I lift, out, | 
rinse, and scrape off the crust, leaving the ( 
shells clear, white and pearly. The. harder 
sorts, which are all the snails that I know of, 
and some kinds of clams, l stir in the kettle 
with a. stick very often after the coating is 
loosened. This rubbing against each other 
and the ashes takes nearly all the crust off, 
and saves a deal of scraping, which is very 
tedious. When I put them upon the frame, 
l select one kind of small shells for the outer 
edge, and a smaller size for the inner. Then 
I arrange the larger shells into flowers or fig¬ 
ures in the corners and along the sides. 
Some of mine, 1 filled the spaces with small 
cr shells. Some pound glass fine, and fill in, 
which gives tho appearance of being cry stab 
ized, and is very handsome. L. c. 
-- 
DOMESTIC BREVITIES. 
Jiag Carpels .—Having prepared rags for 
thirty yards of carpeting during the first half i 
of the past winter, and having used that kind i 
enough to know that, it wears bet ter on floors I 
in common use than most of the “boughten” 
ones, I must speak a good word for them, 
lost they are not appreciated as deserved. \ 
The chain (or warp) should be ready twisted 
and colored when bought; rags should be 
carefully mixed while sewing them on the | 
“ hit or miss ’ f plan i this makes the prettiest ( 
Modes and Manners. 
CHILDREN’S CLOTHING. 
Whitb remains the prevailing color for all 
young children, while those to whom wash¬ 
ing is no consideration, prefer it for girls 
until they eire eight years old. The material 
in general use is pique for children about two 
years old. The beautiful varieties and the 
cheap price render it more desirable than 
any other goods, as ir, is ro much warmer. 
The GubrieUe, or Princesse shape, is that 
generally adopted; the fronts are always 
gored. The back is often separated into a 
waist with slashed basques, which setB loosely 
to the figure, and the skirt, made with a few 
gat hers, buttons underneath. A sash is worn 
around the waist and hid underneath the 
basque. 
For girls of three and four tin overdress is 
made with a half bodice, Princesse shape ; 
the back is further ornamented by sashes of 
the same sewed in the side scams und tied 
loosely on the skirt. The waists are always 
high-necked, with little coat sleeves. The 
trimmings for these pique dresses is braiding, 
with white or fancy braids, white being al¬ 
ways the prettiest. The bottoms of the sk i rts 
arc cut in scallops, points or Vandykes and 
button holed. Tho waists are braided in 
fancy patterns, and often medallions and 
pieces of embroidery are set In tho fronts and 
at, intervals around the skirts. 
For younger children, slips of Nainsook and 
jaconet are made with yokes and fullness 
gathered in winch hongs to the feet. These 
yokes are as fanciful as taste and skill can 
dictate. The skirts are trimmed with ruf- 
carpet by far. Then, whftt should Vie done 
with the old clothes unless we make a carpet 
now and then ? Do not ‘say, “ Give them to 
poor people;” they have spent too much 
time in mending old clothes already ; give 
them something better, but not such old ones 
as we put in carpets. Coloring a few bright 
colors on the more faded ones is rather a 
pleasant task, ns one loves to see that they 
can do it; a writer hi Rural, New- Yorker 
told them how to do it long ago. Be careful 
i n selecting chain not made tender by dyes. 
One can color purple with logwood and alum 
if t hey prefer to color it at home—it is little 
trouble,—A nn. 
Cocomud Cake. —Some time ago T saw an 
inquiry in the paper for a recipe for cocoa- 
nut cake with the whites of eggs only. Here 
is mine :—Two cups of coffee-crushed sugar, 
one-lialf cup butter, one cup sweet milk, one 
teaspoon cream tartar, one teaspoon soda, 
three cups flour; hake in six round tins. 
Take the whites of four eggs, beat to a froth 
then thicken with powdered sugar ; when 
the cakes are done, spread the icing on each 
cake and then spread the cocoanut on, pre¬ 
viously soaking it In milk, in winter ; in sum¬ 
mer soak the nut in water ; It must be baked 
hard. 1 use tho desiccated.— A. L. 
Buttermilk Fried Calces. —One teacup of 
cream, one of sugar, two eggs, one teaspoon 
of salt, one of soda and a quart of butter¬ 
milk. Mix this the same as for biscuit, roll 
out, cut in strips and twist them, and fry 
well. Lard is not as good as cream for this 
kind of cakes ; they are apt to soak lard if 
they are shortened with it. There Ls rio way 
hi which the same quantity of materials will 
go as far and do the housekeeper so much 
good as in well made cakes of this kiml.— 
Farmer’s Wife. 
Corn Starch Cake. — One cup butter, two 
cups sugar, one cup sweet milk, one cup 
corn starch, two cups flour, the yolks of four 
eggs, the whites of five ; one tablespoon 
baking powder; beat sugar and butter to¬ 
gether, add milk, yolks of eggs ; beat whites 
of eggs separate and add last ; mix the baking 
powder with the flour before mixing— Rural 
Reader, Ft. Wayne, lnd. 
Fruit Cake, —One-half pound butter, one- 
half pound sugar, five eggs, one pound rai¬ 
sins, one pound currants, one-quarter pound 
citron, teaspoonful each of all lauds of spices; 
just flour enough to prevent the fruit from 
settling to the bottom. This sized cRke to he 
baked iu ft two-quart basin, in a moderate 
oven.— Mrs. J. S. Carpenter. 
flea a finger-length deep of French embroid- 
eiy, or tucks and puffs. Many of these dresses 
are as extravagantly elaborate as they can 
be made with embroidery and Valenciennes, 
but judicious mothers prefer plainer gar¬ 
ments, which are equally beautiful though 
much more suitable. These full slips are 
confined at tho waist with sashes wide and 
rich, of solid color or Roman stripes. Plaids 
are no longer fashionable. 
Another mode of making slips is a veiy 
loose form of Gabrielle, with embroidery put 
down between the seams. This also is to be 
worn with a sash. 
Very pretty dresses of buff linen cut like 
those above described, and braided with 
black, white or combination braids, are suit¬ 
able for country wear. They do up very 
nicely and are inexpensive. All the clothes 
above described can be bought ready made, 
and are by no means expensive, the price 
varying from $2.50 to $7. 
Christening robea are alto made with tho 
front entahlUr. Embroidered fronts are by 
no means so fashionable us those of tucks, 
puffs and lace. One of the prettiest puffs is 
of groups of tucks and puffs. When done up 
nicely with tho puffs lluted, it is exceedingly 
pretty. Those of Hwiss embroidery and Val¬ 
enciennes laoe are too intricate for descrip¬ 
tion. They are made in pieces of different 
designs, anil are then arranged together. All 
children’s dresses are made with high necks 
and long sleeves, Fashion having finally 
yielded to the demands of health. 
BOYS' CLOTHES. 
Little boys who have just escaped dresses, 
wear shirts of pique, kilt-plaited with a wide 
plait in front, trimmed with straight stripes 
of whit© tmmiung*flistened at the outer ends 
with buttons, and loose blouse shirts, either 
of linen, white or in colored stripes. For 
more important occasions there is a little 
vest and Coat of pique ; the coat slopes away 
from the lower button, showing the lower 
part of the vest, Tho back of the coat fits 
neatly to the figure, and is slashed Up the 
length of n finger. 
Cloth suits are made in the same manner. 
The fronts of the skirts may be trimmed 
with rosettes aud bows of ribbon. A veiy 
pretty green cloth suit was- embroidered on 
the collar and cuffs with gold, and on (he 
front of the skirt wore two sprays of wheat, 
apparently tied by a bow of black ribbon. 
Cloth suits for larger boys have the coat 
and vest made in the same way. The pan¬ 
taloons are worn just below the knee, where 
they are slashed aud ornamented, with but- 
To (let Hid of lied Ants .—After trying 
everything I could thiuk of to drive them off, 
I filled cups with water, and placed them un¬ 
der the legs of my sink and cupboard, and 
removed all crumbs and everything they 
could eat from the shelves. Tho result was, 
they all loft.—M. E. R., Huntinyto a, W. Va. 
tons. 
Sailor suits will be very much worn for 
country and seaside. They are loose, com¬ 
fortable, and do not easily soil. 
Boys’ collars are large and round, or else 
the large square sailor collar is worn. 
HATS. 
IIow to Make I’each Brandy and Straw¬ 
berry Wine, is what Peter Hines asks some 
of our correspondents having experience to 
tell him. 
The sun hats for very little girls are the 
white muslin corded which were worn last 
summer ; they are also made of buff linen, 
1 arid can be taken apart and washed. The 
wide Leghorn hat lined with pink or blue 
turned up at one side, and trimmed with rib¬ 
bon, flowers or long ostrich feathers are worn 
by little girls. 
The sailor hat with brim turned up cither 
in fine straw or the rough, coarse straws, 
with the only trimming a blue ribbon, is the 
favorite hat for little boys. 
FAILLE AND LACE FICHU. 
We give illustrations on page 805 of a beau¬ 
tiful fichu which may be made by tiny coun¬ 
try girl who has any ingenuity at all. This 
fichu is of light, blue faille. The trimming 
consists of white lace three quarters of an 
inch and an inch and a quarter wide, narrow 
white silk gimp, and bows and ends of blue 
gros grain ribbon an inch a nd seven-eighths 
wide. It is given more as a, suggestion than 
as a direction. Patterns we cannot give in 
our space ; but the mode will help young 
ladies to resort to resources within their 
reach to realize this beautiful idea in cos¬ 
tumes. 
SLEEP AS A MEDICINE. 
The cry for rest has always been louder 
than the cry for food. Not that it is more 
important, but it Is often harder to obtain. 
The best, rest comes from a sound sleep. Of 
two men or women, otherwise equal, the one 
who sleeps the best will bo the most moral, 
healthy and efficient. Sleep will do much to 
cure irritability of temper, peevishness, un¬ 
easiness. It will restore to vigor an over¬ 
worked brain. It will build up anil make 
strong a weary body. It will cure a head¬ 
ache. It will cure a heartache. It will cure 
a broken spirit, It will cure sorrow. Indeed 
we might make a long list, of nervous and 
other maladies that sleep will cure. The 
cure of sleeplessness requires a clean, good 
bed, sufficient exercise to produce weariness, 
pleasant occupation, good air, and not too 
warm a room, a clear stomach, a clear con¬ 
science, and avoidance of stimulants and 
narcotics. For those who arc overworked, 
haggard, nervous, who pass sleepness nights, 
we commend the adoption of such habits as 
shall secure sleep; otherwise, life will be 
short, and what there is of itsadly imperfect. 
——♦♦♦-- 
CHAPPED HANDS. 
In a healthy condition, the skin is kept sup¬ 
ple by an oily secretion, which answers the 
same purpose as oiling leatli er. During warm 
weather this secretion, in common with all 
the other secretions of the skin, is more abun¬ 
dant than in cold. When it is insufficient, 
the skin becomes dry and harsh ; and in 
those parts of the body where the skin is 
thick and subject to much motion, as on the 
hands, it readily cracks or fissures. The 
amount of this secretion is so much reduced 
in cold weather that the frequent washing of 
the hands with soap causes them to chap 
readily, and this the more certainly if the 
soap is not thoroughly washed off. The alkali 
iu soap is usually iu excess, and this combines 
with the oily secretion, and so deprives the 
skin of its natural lubricator. To prevent 
the hands from chapping, thou, be careful to 
wanhuU soap from them thoroughly in clean 
water. This will ordinarily suffice ; but if 
not, it will be necessary to make good the 
removed oil by the use of glycerine, honey, 
mutton tallow, etc. 
■ ■ • ■ -* * * -- 
HYGIENIC NOTES. 
Remedy for Erysipelas. —The following “ in¬ 
fallible cure for erysipelas” is furnished the 
“ Fayetteville (North Carolina) Observer ” 
by one who has tried it, and knows it is a 
success :—Take a half bushel of sassafras 
root—out fine, put in a kettle and boil to half 
a pint, when it will be like wax, if cold. 
Strain before becoming cold. While hot, 
after boiling, add one third as much sour 
cream as there is ooze. Take half a pint of 
strong apple vinegar, add saltpeter the size 
of a partridge egg—bathe with t his—letting 
it dry on tho place; then anoint with the 
sassafras. If the case is very bad, take a 
dose of fiftceu to twenty drops tincture of 
iron, three times a day. 
Recipe to Cure a Felon. — A tablespoon 
heaping full of the scrapings of on old pow¬ 
der-horn (one that has been used with pow¬ 
der); n tablespoon heaping full of dried sage, 
and the same of diied rue; one gill of alcohol; 
simmer in a covered vessel for twenty 
minutes. Keep the poultice on for twelve 
hours and then apply a new one. Three 
poultices will generally cure; but it some¬ 
times requires four. You need not hesitate 
to recommend (his recipe. I have known a 
number cured by using it—two or three in 
our family.— k. c. 
__9 
